Realmscapes

Flyboys (2006)

This film is more timely than one would think, and I don't mean the war element.

The film follows the true story of a pilot named Rawlings (James Franco, Spider-Man 1&2), an American volunteer who was part of the legendary Lafayette Escadrille, a French air squadron during World War I. The post-9.11 relationship between America and France is shaky at best, and here is a film depicting a time when the French understood what it meant to be attacked by an enemy, and how much a blessing it was to have allies in fighting for their survival.

The film's overall story is not anything new--it has your motley group of immature young pilots from various walks of life, the distant and melancholy squadron leader (Martin Henderson, The Ring) who used to be one of the immature just in a different group, and the romance between the flyer and the local. It does help at least knowing that the film is based on true events and is not the work of a lazy screenwriter. That notwithstanding there are some great elements of storytelling that can be appreciated by the casual film watcher AND aspiring writers alike.

79th Oscars

Another round of boring Academy Award shows. The Academy continues to base the show on what they believe is worthy of their Golden Oscars.. they continue to discount films that aren't dramas.. they continue to hire hosts and presenters with blatant liberal leanings.. they continue to ignore the box office as an indicator of quality films.. thus they continue to plunge in the ratings (third worst in history!) as viewers tune to other programs that will hold their interest. At this point the Academy will be forced to making the show a private affair while more layman-friendly award shows like the People's Choice Awards and MTV Movie Awards rise in popularity.

...Casino Royale's director Martin Campbell and its writers Jack Wade and Neal Purvis all deserved nominations over the likes of Borat!

...Malicious dictator beats out uber-positive role model dad? Will Smith more than deserved that trophy.

...It isn't about politics? How is it then that United 93 doesn't get a nomination over Letters from Iwo Jima?

...And speaking of Letters, notice that of the two Clint Eastwood war films, Flags of our Fathers (which depicts the hard-fought American victory at Iwo Jima) is nowhere to be seen? Both came out last year and Flags was easily the bigger of the two related productions. But alas it was for the diplomatic and very low-grossing Letters for which Mr Eastwood is nominated.

...Jesus Camp is nothing more than anti-Christian propaganda--in fact the whole category should be renamed "Best Liberal Documentary Feature".

...Flyboys certainly deserved a nod for Cinematography over The Black Dahlia (what is cinematographic about a period murder-mystery?), and also for Film Editing and Sound Mixing.

God's Skeleton Found?

If you have never read the best-selling book by Paul Maier, A Skeleton in God's Closet, it is a story in the guise of a Dan Brown thriller that puts forth this scenario: What would happen if the bones of Jesus Christ were found?

An intruguing question that a new BBC documentary is now actually trying to bring to claim is no longer fiction. Apparently the name of Jesus has been found on a first-century ostuary. Other names on the ancient coffin include the children and what is believed the wife of this Jesus--you guessed it Maria, which the documentary's producers and scholar's are quickly claiming is "Mary"...or Mary Magdalene.

I am a Christian. I make no secret of this fact and I make no secret that I do everything I can to promote the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ in every aspect of my life and at every oppurtunity. I guess this makes me biased when it comes to critiquing this kind of archaeology. The problem I have is that I (and many others like me) am thus accused of having an agenda, as if the non-Christian producers and scholars and scientists and politicians and religious leaders (etc etc) do not. Some of these can even be catergorised as actively anti-Christian, such as the producer of this "Jesus" documentary, the Hollywood director, James Cameron (Terminator series, Titanic).

I don't mind that Cameron and his army of anti-Christian professionals have an agenda to disprove or discredit even the most sacred of Christian beliefs. I do mind that they are spineless enough to promote their agenda to the masses as "objective scholarship and science".

Irony at the Oscars

Melissa Etheridge won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the Al-gore's global warming propaganda docu-bullsh. The name of the song? "I Need To Wake Up".

Yep. I agree.

Go Dems!

The Democrats are looking to re-neg on their authorisation given to the President in 2002 for the Iraq War.

Take notice America! The Dems are showing you that they cannot stand behind anything.. that they have no guts to tough out the difficult challenge of protecting the American culture.. that they have no knowledge of what the war is, what it means, or the statitics of success on the ground.

I love watching the Dems shoot themselves in the foot. They are a national Chinese fire drill of a party.

Quote for 2007, Week 8

It's President's Day so here are words from some of our greatest Presidents.. and because it's an oppurtunity to celebrate the Presidency of the great Ronald Reagan, he gets three--and gets to go first:

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

"Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born."

"Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have."

   Ronald Reagan

"There is nothing that gives a man consequence, and renders him fit for command, like a support that renders him independent of everybody but the State he serves."

   George Washington

"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind of self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."

   James Madison

"One man with courage makes a majority."

   Andrew Jackson

"It is men who wait to be selected, and not those who seek, from whom we may expect the most efficient service."

   Ulysses S Grant

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."

   Teddy Roosevelt

"We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization."

   Franklin D Roosevelt

"Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive. And don't ever apologize for anything."

   Harry S Truman

"There is nothing wrong with America that the faith, love of freedom, intelligence and energy of her citizens cannot cure."

   Dwight D Eisenhower

"The greatness comes not when things go always good for you. But the greatness comes when you're really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you've been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain."

   Richard Nixon

"God is not on the side of any nation, yet we know He is on the side of justice. Our finest moments [as a nation] have come when we faithfully served the cause of justice for our own citizens, and for the people of other lands."

   George W Bush

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Peacemakers, Christ says.

Peacemakers.

Making anything requires effort and sacrifice and wisdom. Pacifists and war-mongers both consider themselves peacemakers and neither are. To make peace sometimes war must be made. But a war that is made with no diplomatic attempt or desired end is also not Christ-like.

In recent years, President Bush has exemplified a peacemaker as Christ suggested from his sermon. In Iraq and Afghanistan, he made war to promote peace. In North Korea he has chosen the side of diplomacy. In the brutal American political wars he chooses diplomacy wherever he can--almost too much for this conservative.

So am I saying that Christ promoted war as a part of peace?

First remember that Christ is one-third the God we see so much in the Old Testament. I AM made war often to establish (or humble) His people Israel. Yet when he became Christ he would not raise up in revolution against Rome.

And then there is that invisible war--the ultimate of all armed conflicts where the stakes are the highest: the Human soul.

I do not accept the war-monger as a peacekeeper because death and carnage should not be the purpose of life.

But the pacifist is also grossly misguided; a soul always at peace is a soul never prepared to fight. Contrasted to the object in motion staying in motion, a soul at rest remains passive and wholly vulnerable to the object in motion. And if that soul is Christian what happens when it is attacked by the invisible enemies of despair or hate? What happens when a physical mind corrupted by these forces attacks fellow physical minds?

"A time of war, and a time of peace." The famous song performed by The Byrds? The song is from God--Ecclesiastes 3 to be exact. Later Christ preached it as one part of "blessed are the peacemakers".

That we need to war at all goes back to the First Sin when Adam and Eve destroyed God's intended eternal peace for this world.

It is our duty to employ both as part of our role as peacemakers on this world.

But as always, Christ is more speaking to our spirtual roles of peacemaking: blessed are those of us that help still the spirtual waters of the soul. That is the peace of importance to God, the peace "that surpasses all understanding".

How much war would there be if the soul were at peace?

E-Mail from Tazz, Airman in Iraq

As posted at RushLimbaugh.com:

Hey Rush,

I am scratching my head here. None of this makes any sense… but I wonder what you think about all of this…

The national news media shows lots of our American servicemen and women dying over there in Iraq and getting killed, helicopters being shot-down, roadside bombs going off…etc…etc. Yet, when you are there, when you work with Americans and Iraqis who are actively engaged in re-building the country, who are out going after the enemy… there’s this ever-present sense of optimism, this prevailing up-beat mood of doing good. Just go talk to the wounded servicemen at Brooks or Bethesda… they’ll tell you the same. Likewise… the Iraqi gentlemen (civilians) I worked with were excited about their economic prospects. They were eager for their families to experience a better life than the life they had under a totalitarian regime.

Rush, there’s an upbeat mood out there in Iraq. The country and its new democracy are moving forward. And the enemy hates it.

On the subject of “civil war” or “civil strife” in Iraq…

From what we can tell… there’s no “civil war” or “civil strife” as the news media puts it. The terrorists are coming from outside the country and killing civilians – as many as possible – to gain a foothold in Iraq. They play this stuff on TV to make us sick. It’s working… we are getting sick… but Iraq is getting strong. If there really is civil strife in the country… then WHY don’t WE hear statements in the news about Shia leaders taking responsibility for Sunni killings, and vice-versa? WHY? This is why: Because they aren’t doing that Rush. THAT’S WHY we NEVER hear news reports from the so-called “civil strife” combatants themselves… because there aren’t any… the IRAQIS are trying to build-up their country and make it work… MEANWHILE the enemy comes and kills everyone they can… and they run away from the scene (or die in the blast themselves).

One more thought…

I HATE DOING MATH…BUT THINK ABOUT THIS….

Rush…there’s anywhere from 500 to 1,000 road vehicle convoys per day in the country of Iraq. One or three of these vehicle convoys (at most) get hit by an IED each day, which destroys maybe one or two vehicles. Most convoys have anywhere from 20 – 100 vehicles…NOW…what’s your odds (e.g. CNN reporter) of being tagged by an IED????

In Summary…

I remain confused, amazed, and dumbfounded by the news-media view on the war. And yet Americans are buying it…WHY??? How can we believe only one side of the story without seeing the whole picture… the whole story as it unfolds? Does ANYONE really know (other than those who are there) what’s REALLY happening in Iraq??? Is there any chance of getting any of this news reporting being done right???

America is doing good things over there. Our troops are awesome… they are an inspiration… a model of courage and of selfless patriotism. Why don’t people back home trust them?

Mega Dittos Rush

Very Respectfully,

Tazz

I Love it when a plan comes together

A lot of writing craft books (and their sometimes famous scripters) say that it's a big no-no to plan a book out. I subscribe to about 80% of this belief.

I find that I write a much better book when I have a general road map of where things are going.

What I don't do is get too specific. I do not advocate any writer compiling a synopsis before they sit down and write. Stories and characters need a decent amount of room to maneuver and change within the pages.

But beyond that, I do think it is beneficial to have half a dozen sentences (or maybe ten short thought-phrases) for each ACT of the book--just enough to show yourself that you have something. I find this process also excites me and can be a nice motivator during those periods you fell especially burdened. And since you will need to be able to condense your story for potential publishers, producers, and/or agents, these little blurbs will be a huge help when it comes time to pitch.

Quote for 2007, Week 7

"The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just."

   Abraham Lincoln